April SAGAG General Meeting- Guest Speaker Nao Yamamoto

April meeting guest speaker Nao Yamamoto

Nao Yamamoto, Glass Artists and Author, will present at SAGAG's April General Meeting via ZOOM.

You might recognize Nao as a competitor on the the TV Show "Blown Away" Season 2 on Netflix. She has numerous accomplishments including Solo and Group Exhibitions, scholarships, awards and residencies. We're excited and honored to have her as our guest speaker. 

Meeting Agenda

• Logon at 6:30 pm to visit and troubleshoot
• 7:00 Business Meeting
  
• 7:15 Nao's presentation will begin

Please register for the meeting to receive link to Zoom meeting. 

More about Nao Yamamoto

Nao Yamamoto was born in Japan, and has spent the last nine years building her artistic practice in the United States.

She received the Masters of Fine Arts in studio art and design from California State University, San Bernardino in 2014, and her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Tama Art University, in Tokyo in 2011, specializing in glass art.

Nao creates artwork inspired by the simple beauty of glass and nature, to cerebrate the power of life.

From Nao's Artist Statement

The environment I grew up with allowed me to cultivate an appreciation for both contemporary art and traditional craft, and I have so much respect for the Japanese culture. However, the experience of contemporary art based on different culture and the environment changed my perspective, and I felt like it took me beyond the narrow society in Japan. Since I recognized my art as the way to represent myself, or even have conversations with myself, I became devoted to a contemporary art practice. It is so exciting to see my thoughts made visual and how I’ve been changed by creating my artworks.

I have long created my art pieces based on the simple beauty of glass. I was looking for the way to emphasize what I see in it. During the glassblowing process, I sometimes saw the molten glass as a creature that has a consciousness and tries to challenge my skill or mastery. This idea helped me to create a different body of work which represented my experience or relationship with glass sculpture rather than the materiality of glass. Now glass becomes not only a material, but also my fickle friend which reflects my inspiration and concentration. 

I believe that there is nothing that compares with the beauty of Nature. It is overwhelming because any life doesn’t think about the meaning of life, but only thinks surviving. When I am at a beach, in a forest, or in the middle of a desert, the simple, pure, clean force of life in nature inspires me to just live, strongly but simply. I believe we have lost that notion in complicated contemporary lives. What I’m doing is creating reinterpretations of elements from nature to celebrate the power of life, both in its significance and in its insignificance.

Please register if you wish to attend.The link to join the meeting using ZOOM will be included in your registration confirmation email.

SAGAG, like so many, is using online meetings as a way to stay connected and offering great new speakers. We'll continue to work on new opportunities for members and expand the website. Do you have ideas? Want to lend a hand? Speak up at our next meeting or email the board